ORIGINAL: TonyF
There are dogs and then there are dogs. They are as much individuals as people. Having rules that make the owner's responsible for their dog's behavior seems more applicable. It is how my club, and by the way the same club Jerry Budd belongs to, handles the pet situation.
Would that would be the club that used to have a leash rule until you got a dog and became Club President, then rewrote the club rules to remove the leash requirement?
I also have to say, not saying anything to a dog's owner about something the dog ''might'' have done, then posting it here in this forum long after the fact seems very spiteful. Spreading a rumor about some such event in an internet forum before anyone even tries to say anything directly to the dog's owner seems very small. You would think that a more reasonable action would be to bring up your concerns directly to the owner before posting it to the internet. Especially when it was something you did not witness, but was told to you by a ''friend of a friend''. Second and third hand info can often be very unreliable. Seems like strange behavior.
Nothing spiteful or strange about it, I wasn't addressing you with my post. In fact I never mentioned anyones name. I was just offering advice to Joe based on my experiences and observations (which he btw asked for). If it struck a nerve with you, don't blame me (but you might consider taking a look in the mirror before replying).
Here's the facts of the situation: As I posted, "I" didn't observe the dog peeing on the planes, but I "was" told directly by someone who witnessed it firsthand themselves. Not from a "friend of a friend", it was from the girlfriend of a new pilot flying in the contest. And from what I was told she wasn't the only one who saw it. Nor was she happy about it. Also, I didn't say who's dog it was, but obviously you think it was your's, why is that? I could go into a lot of background as to why the owner of the dog wasn't approached about what their dog had done, but to what end? It had nothing to do with the point I was making about why a pet should be on a leash at the flying field.
Any responsible pet owner will not want their pet to be in danger. When the conditions warrant it, my dog is leashed. But it is not necessary at all times. As this thread has seen, there are dogs and then there are dogs. But then again, there are also all sorts of human beings. There are some in my club that when they are flying I casually put my airplane somewhere safe! But I don't make an issue out of it. And when I fly my pattern model with someone else in the air I know it is always at risk. As Jerry experienced a few months ago, mid-airs happen. I would be willing to bet they take out far more pattern models then dogs. Do we want to start to legislate against mid-airs? Can you imagine that response?
That's a poor analogy, mid-airs cannot be easily prevented. Preventing a pet from wandering onto the runway, or from being at risk due to running around loose can be. It's as simple as that.
As to what most clubs do for rules, I have seen just the opposite. Even the AMA at it's headquarters has no such rule regarding leashes. And the AMA makes no official recommendation regarding pets. They leave it up entirely to the individual club. In fact, when I talked to the AMA about it they told me a story of a dog that was at every Sailplane Nats for many years. He would roam around the contest, a friend to everyone there. When he passed they buried him at that site.
I agree with leaving it up to the individual club. And I would hope that the club's members would realize that having a pet leash rule (and enforcing it) just makes sense. As far as your anecdotal (rumored?) story about the sailplane Nats, not many rotating propellers there, hence a greatly reduced risk level. Maybe it's not much of a problem at the Sailplane Nats. On the other hand if that dog was peeing on other competitors planes, as I was told this one was, then I suspect not everyone would have been so happy about it being allowed to run around loose (assuming it was).
I think making rules based on examples of irresponsible owners or on rumors would be poorly based.
Agreed, however having a common sense rule that proactively prevents a problem from occurring, especially when it's as simple as keeping a pet on a leash, is just good policy. Not to mention being courteous towards others who would rather not deal with the pet being around them and their planes. I don't think that's too much to ask.